"Google and MPEG LA announced today that they have entered into agreements granting Google a license to techniques that may be essential to VP8 and earlier-generation VPx video compression technologies under patents owned by 11 patent holders. The agreements also grant Google the right to sublicense those techniques to any user of VP8, whether the VP8 implementation is by Google or another entity. It further provides for sublicensing those VP8 techniques in one next-generation VPx video codec. As a result of the agreements, MPEG LA will discontinue its effort to form a VP8 patent pool." The word that stood out to me: the auxiliary verb 'may', which has a rather low epistemic modality. To me, this indicates that this is not so much a clear-cut case of VP8 infringing upon patents, but more a precautionary move on Google's part.

it ranges from unlikely to impossible that VP8 doesn't infringe at least on some of the innovations covered by the MPEG LA patent pool.

I don't think so. Looks more like Google paying these trolls to stop spreading FUD (so Apple and MS would have no lame excuses to avoid VPx because of "uncertainty"). Trolls are happy to get the money of course, but this whole thing doesn't prove anything about actual codec and whether it's patent encumbered or not. If Google actually licensed some patents - they should be disclosed in order to evaluate whether they apply or not.

I suspect Google won't disclose anything, because they didn't license any patents. They just paid the trolls so they would bug off. It's kind of good and bad. Good since VP8 can be more widely adopted, and bad since it only encourages further patent racket. I think not feeding the trolls would be a better approach in the long term.